I’m saving hard just in case my health fails

PENSIONER David Trigg has always been a saver, but started thinking about putting money away for care when his wife Linda died four-and-a-half years ago. The former British Airways and Eurostar worker, 65, says he is lucky enough to have a number of pensions. This allows him to maximise his Isa and Self Invested Private Pension (Sipp) contributions each year to build a pot he will not touch until he needs it for care. This year’s Isa savings allowance is £20,000 and, as he no longer works, David can also pay £2,880 per tax year into his Sipp, and HMRC will add £720 in tax relief. David says he hopes his savings strategy will keep him out of a poor quality care home. His 99-year-old aunt is in a good home which costs more than £1,000 a week. And while the state pays some, or all, of the care home costs if you have assets below £23,250 in England, David says you cannot rely on the promise of government funding. He invests his allowances in highincome investment trusts with AJ Bell and the Share Centre which he says offer an annual return of at least four figures. He does not have an end sum in mind, but will continue saving in this way as ‘you never know when you are going to go’. David, who has no children, is also confident he could get £2,000 a month renting his home, a 1930s extended three-bedroom property in Twickenham, South-West London. And David says his niece and nephew, to whom he has given power of attorney, could organise this on his behalf if he is unable to do it himself. He adds: ‘Care costs are only going to go up. I would suggest that people start saving as soon as they can.’